This Week in Pensions: August 10, 2018

Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.

Here are this week’s top stories:

Depressed wages, pension cutbacks hurt black women by Kelly Malone: a long-time Department of Public Service employee writes to the Cincinnati Enquirer about the importance of protecting pensions, especially for black women. Pensions help keep black women out of poverty in retirement.

My Turn: The other side of the pension debate by Dave Low: the chairman of Californians for Secure Retirement argues that pension critics ignore basic facts when making misleading arguments against pensions. The spending of pension benefits helps sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in California each year and generates more than a billion dollars in tax revenue.

‘Too Little Too Late’: Bankruptcy Booms Among Older Americans by Tara Siegel Bernard: a new study from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project found that the rate of bankruptcy among older Americans has skyrocketed over the past three decades. From 1991 to 2016, the rate tripled among people age 65 to 74. “When the costs of aging are off-loaded onto a population that simply does not have access to adequate resources, something has to give,” the study says, “and older Americans turn to what little is left of the social safety net — bankruptcy court.”

Letter: The future of public educators must be protected by Grace Rogers: a retired Texas teacher writes with concern about possible cuts to pension benefits for Texas educators. Already faced with rising health insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, retired Texas teachers now risk seeing their pension benefits cut if the Texas legislature fails to increase its contributions from its very low levels.

Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!

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